The Cool Kids have been a staple on my own personal iPod(s) since their 2005 inception. It's almost uncanny for a group to garner so much fan/critical acclaim without a proper full-length release out. Said album (When Fish Ride Bicycles) has almost become Hip-Hop's "Chinese Democracy" - Talked about since roughly 2008.
Over the course of their young career(s), Mikey & Chuck have been strung along like drooling teenage boys... by a handful of labels. The Cool Kids' track record includes ill-fated time spent with: Fools Gold, Chocolate Industries, Mad Decent, and even the demise of their own label - "C.A.K.E. Recordings." Note-worthy early collections include The Bake Sale EP, Totally Flossed Out (mixtape)... and 2 lead up "fish-tapes," Gone Fishing (2009) and Tacklebox (2010). Some of my choice early favourites include: "Black Mags," "Mikey Rocks," "What It Is," "88," "Gold and a Pager," and "One Two."
A hairy legal battle with ex-publisher, Chocolate was finally settled in 2010. The master tapes were then [re-]released to the band. Following a string of many such delays, The Cool Kids just got fed up, said "Fuck it!" and signed with a soda company in 2010-11. The Green Label Sound (PepsiCo) imprint is essentially a lax, Internet-based music-centric "label."
Having nixed the stereotypical "Lil' Wayne feature" fairly early on, Chuck & Mikey seem to have called in some "major league favors" for inclusion this go-round: Mayer Hawthorne (Stones Throw), Asher Roth, Boldy James, Maxine Ashley, Ghostface Killah (Wu-Tang Clan), Tennille, Pharrell [production], and Pulled Over By the Cops affiliates - Bun B/Chip tha Ripper. Pick up a copy of The Cool Kids' "debut album," When Fish Ride Bicycles when it's released this coming July 12th in conjunction with Mountain Dew.
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